Connector

ABSTRACT

A connector including a first connector element and a second connector element that are coupled into a single unit, in which the first connector element has an engagement projection that projects interior of the first connector element and extends in the direction of the depth of the first connector element so that the front end of the engagement projection is spacedly apart from the front edge of the first connector element, and the second connector element is formed with an engagement slit that extends in the direction of depth of the second connector element and engages with the engagement projection of the first connector element.

Notice: More than one reissue application has been filed for the reissueof U.S. Pat. No. 6.776,660. The reissue applications are applicationSer. Nos. 11/334,820 (present application), 29/318,045, 12/613,474, and12/613,482 all of which are continuation reissues of 11/334,820.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a connector and more particularly to anelectrical connector used in, for instance, small size electricalappliances.

2. Prior Art

In for instance, computer related electronic appliances, the electricalconnections including connections to an AC adapter, to interfaces, etc.are made in many different ways. Such electrical connections aretypically made by connectors that substantially comprise a receptacle(female) side connector element and a plug (male) side connector elementthat is brought into the receptacle side connector and coupled theretofor making electrical connection in between so that pin-shapedelectrodes installed in the connector elements are connected.

More specifically, connectors typically include in their metal shells aplurality of pins (or terminals) that are arranged in parallel in theirlongitudinal directions and positionally secured by insulator materialsuch as polyamide, LCP (liquid crystallization polymer), etc. The pinsin the receptacle and plug side connector elements are spacedly arrangedside by side in the direction in which the connector elements are madetogether.

Upon making connection of the plug side connector element into thereceptacle side connector element, it is necessary that responsive pinsin two connector elements be aligned to be on a straight line. In otherwords, it is necessary to avoid the connector elements from beingoblique to each other when they are brought together at their frontedges for connection. If the plug side connector element in an obliqueposture with reference to the receptacle side connector element, asshown in FIG. 10, is pushed into the receptacle side connector element,an irregular pin connection is made (as at 100) as seen from theenlarged view shown in the circle in FIG. 10, and this would causeseveral problems including short-circuiting.

In addition, when the plug side connector element is connected to thereceptacle connector element in a slanted posture (which can easilyoccur when there is size differences between the receptacle and plugside connector elements), removing of the plug side connector elementfrom the receptacle side connector element is not easily done andoccasionally requires forcibly and repeated twists on the shell of theplug side connector element. This would cause damage to the pins and theshells of both connector elements.

Thus, though pin alignment is essential when connection is made betweenthe two connector elements, such a pin alignment is not obtained easilyand this difficulty can occur often when the connector is small in sizeand used in small size electrical devices such as a personal digitalassistance (PDA), digital cameras, camcorders, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide anelectrical connector that allows accurate and secure connections orcoupling between connector elements to be made easily without causingpin or electrode misalignment.

The above object is accomplished by a unique structure of the presentinvention for a connector that comprise a first connector element and asecond connector element that are coupled together when the secondconnector element is fitted in the first connector element, and in thepresent invention:

-   -   the first connector element is formed with an engagement        projection that extends in the direction of the depth of the        first connector element, the front end of the engagement        projection being spacedly apart from the front edge of the first        connector element; and    -   the second connector element is formed with an engagement slit        or slot that extends in the direction of the depth of the second        connector element so that the engagement slit receives therein        the engagement projection of first connector element when the        first and second connector elements are connected.

With the structure above, upon connecting the second connector elementto the first connector element, the front end of the engagement slit ofthe second connector element engages with the engagement projection ofthe first connecting element after the front end of the engagement slithas advanced the distance between the front edge of the first connectorelement and the front end of the engagement projection, and then thesecond connector element is pushed all the way to back of the firstconnector element in the depth of the first connector element whilebeing guided by the engagement slit engaging with the engagementprojection. Accordingly, even when the second connector element isobliquely pushed into the first connector element at the initial stageof coupling process, such oblique posture is corrected by the engagementprojection of the first connector element as the second connectorelement is pushed and advanced to the back of the first connectorelement, and a connection between the first and second connectorelements with the pins (electrodes) inside both of them being adaptedstraight can be made assuredly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the first connector body (firstconnector element) of the connector according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the second connector body (secondconnector element) of the connector according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of the first connector body,

FIG. 4 schematically shows the cross section of the first connector bodytaken along the line 44 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of the second connector body,

FIG. 6 schematically shows the cross section of the second connectorbody taken along line 6—6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 illustrates the second connector body which is combined with aplug assembly,

FIG. 8 illustrates the manner of connecting the second connector body tothe first connector body,

FIG. 9 illustrates the first connector body to which the secondconnector body (not seen) is connected; and

FIG. 10 illustrates the manner of oblique connection of the first andsecond connector elements in prior art connector.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The connector of the present invention is comprised of a first connectorbody 20 (a receptacle side connector element) and a second connectorbody 40 (a plug side connector element).

As seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the first and second connector bodies 20 and40 comprise respectively a relatively flat box shape shell 22 and 42made of a metal and include therein a plurality of pins or elongatedelectrodes, which are collectively referred to by the reference numerals24 and 44 respectively, and an insulating material (not shown) is filledtherein so as to positionally secure the pins 24 and 44.

The shell 22 of the first connector body 20 comprises, as best seen fromFIG. 4, a top shell plate 22A and a bottom shell plate 22B as well asside shell plates 22C, thus forming a box shape that has a predetermineddepth 22D (see FIG. 3) that extends from the front edge 20A to the rearedge 20B of the first connector body 20. The pins 24 of the firstconnector body 20 are arranged parallel to the direction of the depth22D.

The shell 22 of the first connector 20 is formed in its top shell plate22A with engagement projections 30. Each of the projections 30 is formedby cutting the top shell plate 22A in an angled C shape, and theresulting tongue pieces 22E are bent inward toward the interior of theshell 22. The tongue pieces 22E are in the shape of elongated parts ofthe shell 22 that extend in the direction of the depth 22D of the firstconnector body 20, and they are parallel to the side shell plates 22C ofthe first connector body 20 or to the side edges 22A′ of the top shellplate 22A.

The tongue pieces 22E are bent at locations of distance 22W from theside shell plates 22C or from the side edges 22A′ of the first connectorbody 20 to make the engagement projections 30. The engagementprojections 30 are provided with a space of a distance L apart from thefront edge 20A of the first connector body 20. In other words, the frontends 32 of the engagement projections 32 are spaced apart from the frontedge 20A of the first connector body 20. The engagement projections 30have a length 30L which is, in the shown embodiment, about two third thedepth 22D of the first connector body 20.

On the other hand, the shell 42 of the second connector body 40comprises, as best seen from FIG. 6, a top shell plate 42A and a bottomshall shell plate 42B as well as side shell plates 42C, thus forming abox shape with a predetermined depth 42D (see FIG. 6) that extends fromthe front edge 40A to the rear edge 40B of the second connector body 40.The overall size of the shell 42 of the second connector 42 is slightlysmaller than the shell 22 of the first connector body 20 so that thesecond connector body 40 is fitted in the first connector body 20 fromthe first side of the first connector body 20. The pins 44 of the secondconnector body 40 are arranged so be parallel to the direction of thedepth 42D.

The shell 42 of the second connector body 40 is formed in its top shellplate 42A with engagement slits 50. Each of the engagement slits 50 isformed by cutting away parts of the top shell plate 42A linearly so thatthe engagement slits 50 are parallel to and adjacent to the side plates42C or to side edges 42A′ of the top shell plate 42A. An alternateconstruction would be to mold the slits 50 into the shell 42 when theshell 42 is made. The engagement slits 50 are provided so as to extendin the direction of depth 42D of the shell 42 of the second connectorbody 40. In other words, the front end ends 52 of the engagement slits50 are on the front edge 40A of the second connector body 40. Theengagement slits 50 have a length 50L which is, in the shown embodiment,about two thirds of the depth 42D of the second connector body 40 and isslightly larger in length than the engagement projections 30 of thefirst connector body 20.

The engagement slits 50 are opened at locations of distance 42W from theside shell plates 42C or from the side edges 42A′ of the top shell plate42A of the second connector body 40, the distance 42W beingsubstantially the same as the distance 22W of the engagement projections30 of the first connector body 20. Thus, the engagement slits 50positionally correspond to the engagement projections 30 of the firstconnector body 20. The width W of the engagement slits 50 issubstantially the same as (or slightly larger than) the thickness of thetongue pieces 22E (engagement projections 30) which is the thickness ofthe metal material of the shell 22 of the first connector body 20.

The reference numerals 60 shown in FIG. 2 are raised springy holdersformed by notching the top shell plate 42A of the second connector body40 and raised outwardly.

The first and second connector bodies 20 and 40 structured as describedabove are connected by way of mating together at the front ends of theshells 22 and 42.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the second connector body 40,which is attached at its rear edge 40B to, typically, a plug assembly 60that is connected to, for instance, an electrical cable (not shown), isheld by hand, and then is brought to the vicinity of the first connectorbody 20 which is installed in a casing body of, for instance, a PDA (notshown).

The front edge 40A of the second connector body 40, which is a plug sideconnector element, is set so as to face the front edge 20A of the firstconnector body 20, which is a receptacle side connector element, so thatthe first and second connector bodies 20 and 40 are aligned in thedirection of the depth thereof (which brings an alignment of the pins 24and 44 installed in such connector bodies 20 and 40). In thispositioning, since the distances 22W and 42W of the first and secondconnector bodies 20 and 40 are substantially equal, the engagementprojections 30 of the first connector body 20 and the engagement slits50 of the second connector body 40 are also aligned on imaginarystraight lines.

Then, the second connector body 40 is pushed into the first connectorbody 20 as shown by arrow in FIG. 8. During the initial pushingmovement, the outer surfaces of the shell 42 of the second connectorbody 40 are guided by the inner surfaces of the shells 22 of the firstconnector 20. After advancing the distance L which is the distance fromthe front edge 20A to the front ends 32 of the engagement projections 30in the first connector body 20, the engagement slits 50 of the secondconnector body 40 come into engagement with the engagement projections30 of the first connector body 20. As a result, the sliding movement ofthe second connector body 40 in the depth 22D of and toward the rearedge 20B of the first connector body 20 is guided by the engagementprojections 30. The second connector body 40 is thus pushed into thefirst connector body 20 straight with the pins inside both connectorbodies aligned straight as well and connected to the first connectorbody 20 (see FIG. 9, in which the second connector body 40 is unseensince it is inside the first connector body 20). The second connectorbody 40 is held inside the first connector body 20 by the raised springyholders 60 that press against the inside surface of the top shell plate22A of the first connector body 20.

The width W of each engagement slit 50 is substantially the same as (orslightly larger than) the thickness of the engagement projection 30, andthus the engagement projections 30 have substantially no space for playin the direction perpendicular to the direction of the length of theengagement slits 50 or to the direction of the connecting direction ofthe first and second connector bodies 20 and 40. Accordingly, theengagement slits 50 of the second connector body 40 make no lateralmovements during the sliding movement, keeping the straight alignmentobtained by the engaged engagement projections 30 and engagement slits50.

As a result, even when the second connector body 40 is slanted withreference to the first connector body 20 during the initial connectingstage, such a slanted positional relationship is automatically correctedto a straight relationship as the second connector body 40 is pushedinto deep in the first connector body 20, and a snug and secureengagement of the first and second connector bodies 20 and 40 isaccomplished, and pins 24 and 44 of the first and second connectorbodies 20 and 40 are connected properly. The engagement projections 30and the engagement slits 50 are formed near the side edges 22A′ and 42A′of the first and second connector bodies 20 and 40, respectively;accordingly, the connection of the connector bodies 20 and 40 can bemade in a stable fashion, and a separation of the connected connectingbodies can be made easily.

1. A connector comprising a first connector element and a secondconnector element that are coupled together, wherein said first andsecond connector elements are each formed with a metallic shell; saidfirst connector element is formed with an engagement projection thatprojects toward an interior of said first connector element and extendsin a direction of depth of said first connector element, a front end ofsaid engagement projection being spaced apart from a front edge of saidconnector element by a predetermined distance; said engagementprojection is formed by cutting a C-shape slit in a top surface of saidmetallic shell of said first connector element and bending a tongueformed downwardly, an engagement edge of the tongue extending by a firstlength in the direction of depth of said first connector element; andsaid second connector element is formed with an elongated engagementslit in said metallic shell the elongated engagement slit having asecond length that starts at a front edge of the metallic shell of thesecond connector element and extends in a direction of depth of saidmetallic shell of said second connector for engaging with saidengagement projection formed in said metallic shell of said firstconnector element, wherein, the engagement projection and the elongatedengagement slit are configured such that when pushing the secondconnector element into the first connector element, the engagement edgeof the tongue of the engagement projection engages the elongatedengagement slit at the front edge of the metallic shell of the secondconnector element to provide for straight alignment, and wherein, thefirst length of the engagement edge of the tongue slides along thesecond length of the elongated slit to guide the sliding movement as thesecond connector element is pushed in the direction of depth and towarda rear of the first connector element.
 2. The connector according toclaim 1, wherein said engagement projection is provided at two locationsof said first connector element so as to be parallel to side edges ofsaid first connector element, and said elongated engagement slit isprovided at two locations of said second connector element so as to beparallel to side edges of said second connector element and tocorrespond to said two locations of said engagement projections of saidfirst connector element.
 3. The connector according to claim 1, whereinsaid engagement projection has a predetermined length in said depthdirection and said elongated engagement slit has a predetermined lengthin said depth direction which is at said predetermined length of saidengagement projection.
 4. An electrical connector system comprising: afirst electrical connector including: a body having a metallic topplate, a metallic bottom plate, a first side and a second side, the bodyhaving a width W1 and a depth D1, wherein the first and second sides aresmaller relative to the top and bottom plates providing a substantiallyflat body; an array of electrodes extending in the direction of thedepth D1 inside the body; and first and second projections, eachprojection being formed by cutting a C-shaped slit in the metallic topplate and bending a tongue formed downwardly, each projectionlongitudinally extending along the depth D1, the first and secondprojections being formed at about the same distance from the first sideand the second side, respectively; and a second electrical connectorincluding: a body having a metallic top plate, a metallic bottom plate,a first side and a second side, the body having a width W2 and a depthD2, wherein the first and second sides are smaller relative to the topand bottom plates providing a substantially flat body; an array ofelectrodes extending in the direction of the depth D2, the array ofelectrodes being positionally secured by insulating material to aninterior surface of the body; and first and second elongated slitsformed on the metallic top plate of the body, the first and secondelongated slits starting from a front edge of the metallic top plate andlongitudinally extending in the direction of the depth D2, the first andsecond elongated slits being formed at about the same distance from thefirst side and the second side of the body, respectively, wherein, theengagement projection and the elongated engagement slit are configuredsuch that when inserting the second connector element into the firstconnector element, the engagement projection engages the elongatedengagement slit to provide for straight alignment and to guide thesliding movement as the second connector element is pushed in thedirection of depth and toward a rear of the first connector element. 5.The electrical connector system of claim 4 wherein the array ofelectrodes of the second electrical connector are positionally securedto the metallic bottom plate of the body, leaving an insertion cavity inthe interior of the body of the second electrical connector between thearray of electrodes and the metallic top plate.
 6. The electricalconnector system of claim 4 wherein the second electrical connectorfurther comprises at least one raised springy holder that is raisedupwardly from the top plate of the body of the second electricalconnector, the raised springy holder providing for compressive actionagainst the body of the first electrical connector when the first andsecond connectors mate.
 7. The electrical connector system of claim 4wherein each of the first and second elongated slits in the secondelectrical connector has a length that is about two thirds of the depthD2 of the body of the second electrical connector.
 8. The electricalconnector system of claim 4 wherein each of the first and secondprojections in the first electrical connector has a length that is abouttwo thirds of the depth D1 of the body of the first electricalconnector.
 9. The electrical connector system of claim 4 wherein thefirst elongated slit in the second electrical connector is formedadjacent to and at a predetermined distance form the first side of thesecond electrical connector, and the second elongated slit is formedadjacent to and at a predetermined distance from the second side of thesecond electrical connector, and wherein the outermost electrodes in thearray of electrodes in the second electrical connector are formedbetween the first elongated slit and the second elongated slit.
 10. Theelectrical connector system of claim 4 wherein the first projection inthe first connector is formed adjacent to and at a predetermineddistance form the first side of the first connector, and the secondprojection is formed adjacent to and at a predetermined distance fromthe second side of the first connector, and wherein the outermostelectrodes in the array of electrodes in the first electrical connectorare formed between the first projection and the second projection.